Huang Zunxian (29 May 1848 - 28 March 1905), was a Chinese official, scholar, and writer, active during the late Qing dynasty. As a poet, he published more than a hundred poems. He was born in Jiayingzhou, now Mei County, Guangdong, and died 57 years later in the same place. His important contributions to China made him a recognised figure of his time, and a namesake foundation has been established in his honour. Huang's former residence is now marked as a public museum.

Huang was born May 29, 1848 in Jiayingzhou (now Mei County), Guangdong, China to a family of Hakka heritage. His father Huang Hung Chow was a scholar-official (Juren) and served the courts of the Qing dynasty. At age three, he witnessed the effects of the greatest land reforms in China. As a toddler, the younger Huang could recite the famous Chinese anthology Thousand Families Poems and as a nine-year-old child studied poems from the Tang dynasty. His life took a turn a few years later, during the Taiping Rebellion, when he was robbed of many of his possessions. He applied to be a Juren, like his father, when he became of age in 1877. Despite heavy competition, he found success and was posted to Tokyo, Japan to serve as the Imperial Chinese Embassy's Counsellor. In September 1880, he published Korea Strategy a paper regarding the high level plans of Korea (unified as it then was). Huang suggested that China and Korea become good allies. The work is described by one source as "a work of destiny that determined the modern history of East Asia". While in Japan, he did some editorial work for the Japan World Magazine, looked into aspects of the medicine of the country, and noted how much the country had progressed through time and published his studies in a book, Treatises on Japan (printed 1890). The Guangxu Emperor was fascinated with the work and invited Huang to detailedly explain it to him in person. It was partially because of Huang's book that the Guangxu Emperor amended some rules in China. Huang is also considered to be a philosopher, having analysed, discussed, and questioned the framework of China. His influences in philosophy included the Enlightenment figures Rousseau and Montesquieu.

Afterwards in 1882, Huang was assigned as Consul-General in San Francisco, United States. During his time there, he realised how wealthy the immigrant Chinese had become, and how much of an asset they were to China. Huang wrote a poem about Frederick Bee, an official at the Chinese Consulate. After seven years in the United States, he moved back to his home country China. In 1890, he relocated to London to act as the Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy; one year later he was reassigned to Singapore to become the Consul-General there. He witnessed how similar the Singaporean Chinese, both rich and generous, were to the native Chinese. Disagreeing with China's policy of not allowing overseas Chinese to return to the country, and torturing them if they did so, Huang composed a formal request to the Emperor to do away with the rule, offering the view that China was "driving fish into other people's nets". The request was accepted and on January 29, 1894, it was announced that the Chinese overseas were no longer barred from returning to China. In between, Huang was Hunan Province's Salt Intendant and he started the Journal for Contemporary Affairs. The change of policy was widely celebrated and reported; Huang was soon to be appointed China's ambassador to Japan. However, before that could materialize, Empress Dowager Cixi seized power and ended the Hundred Days' Reform. With the Guangxu Emperor detained, Huang's career as a diplomat was over. He slammed Empress Dowager Cixi's coup but at the same time expressed his relief at being freed of his diplomatic duties.